Dr. Dre 2002 Lawsuit Re-opened

A presumed closed lawsuit against legendary producer Dr. Dre has just been reopened. The 2002 case charged Dre with improperly videotaping city employees at the Detroit stop of his "Up in Smoke" tour in July 2000. The tour also featured Eminem, Snoop Dogg, Ice Cube and Xzibit.

The employees in question, mayoral spokesman Greg Bowens, police spokeswoman Paula Bridges and then-commander Gary Brown, approached concert promoters at Joe Louis Arena, and requested they not project explicit video during the performance.

After being threatened with legal sanctions, the promoters opted to cooperate with the request, but secret footage of the conversation with the city employees was taken and included in the "Up in Smoke" tour DVD, without their consent.

The city employees filed suit for $3 Billion for the infringement on their privacy, but their suit was dismissed by local courts in 2007, who claimed that the workers had no case, since their discussion took place in a public room with an open door, not in private.

Last week Michigan appeals judges overturned the previous ruling. "We reject the notion that as a matter of law, parties may not conduct a private conversation...in a public place, or a location when nonparticipants in the conversation are physically present," stated one of the appeals judges.

"It's a great victory for the truth for the persons who were clearly wronged in this case," said Glenn Oliver, lawyer for the plaintiffs. "Dr. Dre and his cohorts have been doing nothing but blowing smoke over the last few years and the Court of Appeals clearly saw through it. We believe at trial the jury is going to see through it as well. We expect to see Dr. Dre and the rest of the defendants in Detroit for a trial."

Additionally, the appeals judges stated that by distributing the footage via the DVD, Dre had even further infringed on the rights of his employees.

We'll see how this pans out. Hope this doesn't turn into yet another excuse for Dre to push back 'Detox.'